Monthly Archives: April 2016

Prayer Thoughts 04/25/2016

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Luke 18:1 (NLT)
1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.

This verse contains two absolutes, “always” and “never”.

This reoccurring theme of prayer is throughout scripture. Jesus modeled his teaching of the disciples in the same way. He began His ministry with 40 days of prayer and fasting. He ended His ministry in prayer on the cross. And in between He was in constant prayer. Even the last night He was with his disciples, He spent it in prayer.

Sounds like something we need to pay attention to, don’t you think?

And yet, for all of us, prayer is not something that comes naturally to us. In fact, without the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly pray.

As we learn to “listen” to the Holy Spirit, God has given us prayers in His own language. When we pray scripture, we are literally praying the words that God breathed into the minds of the authors of the Bible. It is His language and it is good. It is not only good, but it is perfect.

The more you read the Bible, as you memorize verses that you constantly bring to mind, you are allowing the Holy Spirit to teach you how to pray.

My prayer is that I will be able to get to the point where I am “always” praying and “never” giving up. I’ve got a long ways to go. That’s why I cherish the Tuesday night prayer time, so I can practice with others.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Chris McKean

The Last Command of Jesus

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“If Jesus commanded you to go to a prayer meeting, would you go?” This was a question often posed by Armin Gesswein, founder of Revival Prayer Fellowship in the early 1950’s.

I think that most of us would say that if Jesus COMMANDED us to go to a prayer meeting, we would immediately ask, “Where will it be and what time does it begin?”
Interestingly enough the last command given by Jesus, was not what is commonly known as the great commission, which is found at the end of Matthew 28, but rather it was in the first chapter of Acts.

Acts 1:4 (NASB)
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;

The Greek word Jesus used for command was a military term. Jesus was literally giving them an order that He was binding them to. Then a few verses later, we find what they were doing in the upper room.

Acts 1:12-14 (NASB)
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

“Pentecost didn’t come through a preaching service; Pentecost came to a prayer service. From Pentecost to Patmos, God never departs from the pattern.” – Armin Gesswein

The power of the gospel comes through prayer. Christ’s last command becomes our first responsibility. Are you ready to obey?

Always praying for the glory of God,

Prayer Thoughts 04/11/2016

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While studying Philippians, there have been two verses that have comforted me recently.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Easier said than done, right?

But if we practice the first verse, we get the benefit of the second one. I often notice that God requires something from us first before He gives us the blessing He promises.

Anxiety is rampant in our world today. But only because we either don’t know God, or we haven’t put our full trust in Him.

God tells us that when we begin to feel anxious, go to Him in prayer, letting Him know what is troubling us. Often we believe that the result of that is that God will now remove the problem. Rather, He tells us that in the midst of our troubles, He will give us the “peace of God”. Can you imagine how peaceful God is? There is nothing that can possibly cause Him anxiety and He promises to give us that. Amazing!

Thanks be to God for the “peace of God” that can guard our hearts and minds.

Come to prayer this Tuesday. If you have the peace of God, then come to rejoice and praise Him. If not, come in thanksgiving as you lay your troubles on Him. He will give you a peace that is not possible without Him.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Prayer Thoughts 4/4/2016

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Hebrews 4:9-10 (NASB)
9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

In our hectic world today, the idea of Sabbath rest seems almost impossible to comprehend. Even Sundays can become days where we are so busy doing and being involved in commitments and schedules that it can leave us tired by the end of the day.

I know Pastors that set aside a different day of the week than Sunday as their Sabbath rest. It is a day resting in God. It is a day that God modeled for us as He rested on the seventh day after creation.

If we have an active prayer life, devoting ourselves to prayer as Paul discussed in Colossians could it be that we need a time of refreshment as well?

Colossians 4:2 (NASB)
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

I don’t think it means not praying one day of the week, but maybe our prayer focus should be on listening to Him, allowing the Holy Spirit to revive us. Paul also talked about this in Romans 8, where he said:

Romans 8:26-27 (NASB)
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

The Spirit is willing to help us in our weakness, but we have to be willing to open our hearts and listen. Do you have a place that you go to that really calms you and you can experience true rest? Maybe it is a place in your home, a quiet place in your neighborhood, or even a memory that you can focus on that was a peaceful place or time. By going there we can experience a Sabbath Prayer, allowing God to refresh us.

Once refreshed, we are then ready to gather on Tuesday night to pray with renewed energy for God’s Kingdom. Come this Tuesday at 7pm as see what God has in store.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean